Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Old Post Office

This week is really flying by, and it is Thursday all ready. That means we just about have made it to the weekend. I am looking forward to resting up this weekend.

Today's picture is from 1918, and shows a woman in the Post Office. I really like the old style wood counter. Today everything is metal, Formica or other manufactured material. I really miss the old style woodwork like in this picture.

I like the woodwork too. About 75% of my jobs connected with my remodel business are old fashioned woodworking. People miss it.

I'm 61 years old and don't have a single bad story to tell about the USPS. Everywhere I've ever lived they have done their job cheerfully and professionally. The other services are also good, but obviously are a different style of corporate culture. Actually, I've had more trouble with them because they sometimes won't leave a package unless I sign for it, which means I have to stay home.

I'm with SmartGirl 1953... I want to go back into that era. I want to have a post office like that be a daily part of my life. I want to wear my hair like that... I want that dress. I want those shoes!

Send me an email when you locate Doc Brown, OK? I'd like to join you in the DeLorean;)

A lot of people have great experiences with their mail carriers. When we were kids, I don’t remember any incidents like those i’ve described.

My parents were always very friendly with their mailmen/women, and gave them gifts, etc.. And my dad lives in the same city, only a mile or two away from me - but in a different zip code. One time I was visiting them, and the mail carrier rang the doorbell and gave them their mail instead of putting it in the box, and then came in and had a cup of coffee with them.

All this bad stuff seems to be contained to my zip code - and happened since we moved into this house.

ps - you're a remodeler, and i'm in the middle of a complete kitchen rip job right now.

the guy doing it is a friend of mine and a contractor with a really good reputation, thank god.

i'm always in awe of people who can build and create things and who have those skills.

I am like Smart girl. I love the dress, the shoes and the hair style. (love the hat too) What a lady she must have been. Could we ever again see this. Thank you for a lovely picture and trip to the past. Love your site! Each day it is a treat and I look forward to it.

We often like to think it would be nicer to live 100 years ago because things were slower, friendlier and the clothes were nicer - I am no exception. But there were also no washing machines, refrigerators or antibiotics, limited insurance, lots of ordinary technology that we take for granted. It's a pleasant to look through the retroscope from the comforts and technology we now enjoy. I suspect when a time machine is invented, trips back to the "Good Ole Days" won't last very long after all.Fun trivia: as the year 2000 approached, Invention & Technology magazine had the ubiquitous "most important inventions of the 20th century" list. They also reviewed lists of similar articles from 1899. Among the top ten inventions of the 19th century was the safety match - right up there with lightbulbs and trains.

You can wear your hair that way, wear that dress (or at least a replica) and that style shoes! If the weirdo lady could wear her Star Trek uniform to the Whitewater hearings, why can't you dress in Edwardian fashions? It's no secret that I enjoy Victorian reenacting and the first thing that got me into it was the clothes. But, we must always remember even today that the clothes don't make the woman - the woman makes the clothes.

People were referring to a time machine, which is why I said we'd have a rude shock if we travelled back in time. Because we would know the difference. My father lived back then. His parents died in an influenza epidemic and one sister died of TB. After his parents died, he went to an orphanage. For every happy memory of his youth he had a unhappy memory of something that wouldn't happen in modern life. People say they wish they lived 100 years ago and bring up a list of nice things like the slower pace, the clothes, the community feeling. But they don't say, I'd rather live back then even though there was a lot more manual labor in both home and work; a higher child mortality rate and childbirth death rate, and no antibiotics, lousy refrigeration. It's pleasant to think about, but if you really think it through, there are lots of drawbacks.

SmartGirl, oh well, stick with your modern hair cut, lol, I do. :-) Since women didn't typically have to work outside the home, and most households had a domestic of some sort (cook, maid, etc) until the 30s, women had greater ability to dress their hair, plus they learned how from the earliest age unless they were truly wealthy and had a personal maid who did it for them. It is fun to put on the clothes and pretend we are from the era, I can't deny that, but alas I have been caught checking my phone. I'm too much a woman of the present day.

About Me

I grew up in West Texas, and could not wait to get away. I got away, and went to the University of Texas, and then on to Stanford. I saw the world, and decided what I really wanted was to be in West Texas. So here I am, right back where I started. I had it all, and found it was not that great.

I have been an avid collector of old photographs and documents for over 30
years. The photographs on this site are derived from material I have collected
over the years. Some came from old family albums, some from material I bought at
flea markets over the years, and some from government archives of public domain
images, including the US Library of Congress, and the National Archives. We
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